Financing Update

RNS Number : 6748I

Ascent Resources PLC

27 July 2012

 



Ascent Resources plc / Epic: AST / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil and Gas

27^th July 2012

Ascent Resources plc

('Ascent' or 'the Company')

Financing Update

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM listed European oil and gas exploration and production company, has secured a one year loan facility of £2.3 million and has extended its existing Standby Equity Distribution Agreement ('SEDA') with YA Global Master SPV Ltd ('Yorkville'), an investment fund managed by Yorkville Advisors LLC.  The revised SEDA is for £10m and has been extended to 31^st December 2015, providing the Company with additional financial flexibility.

The loan facility will be drawn to contribute to group working capital requirements and carries an interest rate of 9% per cent. per annum.  This is in addition to the €15 million facility from BNP Paribas ('BNPP') which is to finance the Petišovci project in Slovenia, where first production is now expected in the first half of 2013 due to delays with necessary consents.

The £10 million SEDA facility, the use of which is entirely at the discretion of the Company, maybe drawn down in exchange for the issue of new shares in the Company.  The shares issued by the Company will be at a 5% discount to the prevailing market price during the ten day pricing period of a drawdown.  The Company may also set a minimum price for each drawdown.  The maximum advance that may be requested is 400% of the average daily trading volume ("ADTV") of Ascent's shares multiplied by the volume weighted average price of such shares for each of the twenty trading days prior to the drawdown request. For advances of 200% to 300% of the ADTV the relevant period is reduced to fifteen days, and for up to 200% of the ADTV it is priced over ten days.

Ascent's Chairman John Kenny said, "This funding alongside the BNPP facility will significantly aid us in achieving first production in Slovenia.  This facility has allowed us to minimise dilution which is one of our key objectives in order to try to maximise shareholder value."

Enquiries:

Investors Scott Richardson Brown	Ascent Resources plc	Tel:  [phone]
Matt Goode Charlotte Stranner Ben Thompson	finnCap (NOMAD & Broker)	Tel:  [phone]
Press Anthony Cardew Alexandra Stoneham	Cardew Group	Tel:  [phone]

Notes

Ascent Resources plc has a diversified portfolio of hydrocarbon exploration and development interests across five countries in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia and Netherlands.  Its portfolio contains a solid base of field redevelopment projects with selected exposure to exploration upside.  The portfolio is focussed on gas and, with the exception of the shallow water Netherlands project, all of its projects are located onshore where operating and development costs are substantially lower than they would be offshore.

 

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